WIESBADEN: Sixteen titles have been selected for the Competition for Central and Eastern European feature films and documentaries at the 21st edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film, which will be held physically and online 20-26 April 2021.
BUCHAREST: Cristina Jacob started shooting a new comedy Stormy Nights in Romania, with actors coming from Italy, England, France, Canada, the USA and Romania. The production was due earlier, but it has been delayed because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
WARSAW: FNE has teamed up with the Brussels based team of the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC) to bring you regular updates on EU cinema policies that impact all industry professionals across Europe. Click here for FNE UNIC EU Cinema Policy Update.
COVID – 19: Cultural and Creative Sectors
19/03: Include Culture in Your National Recovery Strategies and Reactivate Cultural Life - UNIC
Following the open letter published by 110+ pan-European networks on 30 October 2020 “Make culture central in the EU recovery”, the group comes together again to reiterate their call to the national governments and the European Commission.
COVID-19: EU response
25/03: Statement by President von der Leyen at the joint press conference with President Michel, following the videoconference of the members of the European Council – European Commission
25/03: Post-pandemic Europe: High-level expert group advises to learn from innovation and boost key ecosystems – European Commission
In their second Policy Brief ‘Transformation post-COVID: Mobilising Innovation for People, Planet and Prosperity’, the independent ESIR expert group proposes a ‘protect-prepare-transform’ design approach that focusses on applying key learnings from the pandemic and ensuring transitions that are just and that embody the European Commission’s new social, green, and digital pathways for an innovative and resilient post-pandemic Europe.
25/03: MEPs clear another hurdle for the COVID-19 recovery plan – European Parliament
MEPs approved three laws on implementing the EU’s Own Resources system, paving the way for its reform and the introduction of new sources of EU revenue.
25/03: Statement of the members of the European Council – Council of the EU
Following the informal video conference on 25 March 2021, the members of the European Council adopted a statement on COVID-19, single market, industrial policy, digital and the economy, the Eastern Mediterranean and Russia.
16/03: Remarks by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis at the informal ECOFIN press conference – European Commission
16/03: Commission disburses further €9 billion under SURE to seven Member States – European Commission
The European Commission has disbursed today €9 billion to seven EU Member States in the fifth instalment of financial support to Member States under the SURE instrument. This is the second disbursement in 2021. As part of today's operations, Czechia has received €1 billion, Spain €2.87 billion, Croatia €510 million, Italy €3.87 billion, Lithuania €302 million, Malta €123 million and Slovakia €330 million.
Council of the EU
25/03: Remarks by President Charles Michel following the video conference of the members of the European Council of 25 March 2021 – Council of the EU
Estonia
25/03: Estonian Government Supports Cultural Sector With 42 m EUR – Film New Europe
The Estonian government has announced a 42 m EUR support package for the struggling cultural sector. The film sector will receive 5.3 m EUR, of which 3.3 million EUR is earmarked for cinemas and film distributors. The remaining 2 m EUR goes to film productions.
Latvia
17/03: Commission approves €3 million Latvian scheme to support cultural institutions affected by coronavirus outbreak – European Commission
The aim of the scheme is to mitigate the sudden liquidity shortages that these companies are facing due to the restrictive measures implemented by the Latvian government to limit the spread of the virus. The support will take the form of direct grants. The measure is open to companies active in the country's cultural sector.
Events
31 March: Virtual Talk "Capital Markets Union: Financing the post-Covid recovery"
26 May: EU Copyright Law: State of Play and Future Directions – Conference
May 2021: Porto Social Summit
PRAGUE: The Finale Plzen festival of Czech and Slovak films will be held 24 – 29 September 2021, instead of its traditional April dates.
North Macedonia Announces Delayed Second Production Grants for 2020 - March 2021
Macedonia 29-03-2021The North Macedonia Film Agency announced the second deadline decision for production grants for feature, short, animation films and documentaries on 26 March 2021.
PRAGUE: Billionaire and owner of Central European Media Enterprises (CME) Petr Kellner died in a helicopter crash in Alaska on 27 March 2021. Kellner, the wealthiest person in the Czech Republic with an estimated net worth of 19 bn USD, had purchased CME in October 2020.
FNE spoke to one of Georgia’s leading producers Vladimer Katcharava, who heads 20 Steps Productions, about the challenges he has faced during the past year as a producer during the pandemic, as well as the advantages of the SOFA (School of Film Advancement), which held its annual Tbilisi session digitally from 22 to 26 March 2021.
The 25th anniversary Sofia International Film Festival presented in the spring of 2021 a total of 134 films from 53 countries. There are 129 films planned with screenings at the cinemas in Sofia and in other cities, 73 films can be seen ONLINE from everywhere in Bulgaria till April 11th at online.siff.bg.
The Awards Ceremony took place at Hall 1 (National Palace of Culture) on the 20th of March 2021.
Feature film projects from Bulgaria, Serbia and Ukraine have been selected to participate in MIDPOINT Intensive Sofia Meetings 2021.
Tailored exclusively for the 18th Sofia Meetings (March 17 - 24, 2021) of Sofia International Film Festival, the one-off online program welcomes three feature film projects in development.
Bulgarian project LUST by Ralitza Petrova, produced by Poli Angelova will be joined by Serbian FOLK PLAY by writer Bojan Vuletic, director Mirjana Karanovic and producer Snezana van Houwelingen and Ukrainian PHOTOGRAPHERS by director Helga Landauer and producer Regina Maryanovska-Davidzon.
